O.C. high school grad, 18, wins $50,000 scholarship

Manoj Kanagaraj, a 2012 graduate of Fullerton's Troy High School, is one of four winners of a $50,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. He performed scientific lab research last year on a biological pathway by which breast cancer tumor cells become resistant to a cancer drug.COURTESY OF DAVIDSON INSTITUTE

A 2012 graduate of Fullerton's Troy High School has won a $50,000 college scholarship for his scientific research on a biological pathway by which breast cancer tumor cells become resistant to a cancer drug.

Manoj Kanagaraj, 18, is one of only four winners nationwide of the top scholarship prize from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. He completed his research the summer before his senior year, at a lab at City of Hope's Beckman Research Institute in Duarte.

"Before this, I'd learned science through a textbook, so I couldn't realize how this knowledge applied to the real lab," said Kanagaraj, 18, now a freshman at Duke University in Durham, N.C. "I got to go through the scientific process – create hypotheses, find results and even find that many of my initial hypotheses were false."

The Davidson Institute awarded 18 other scholarships this year of either $10,000 or $25,000. Kanagaraj, the only Orange County winner, will be honored at a Davidson Institute reception in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3.

Kanagaraj completed his research over a three-month period last year, as part of a summer internship that is required of students in Troy High's Troy Tech magnet program. He worked under Susan Kane, a professor of tumor cell biology.

Kanagaraj summarized his findings in a graduate student-level research paper more than 20 pages long that became the basis for his entry into the Davidson competition.

The paper is titled, "A Novel Mechanism for HER2 Targeted Drug Resistance: The Role of t-DARPP in a Compensatory Signaling Shift Between the EGFR and HER2 Pathways."

"His findings are a significant step toward the development of an effective combination strategy to overcome the drug-resistant mechanism in breast cancer," Davidson officials said in a statement.

Kanagaraj developed a model that showed how a particular protein in the body can trigger drug resistance to the cancer drug Herceptin, which is used in the treatment of breast cancer.

Although Kanagaraj's paper has not been published in a scientific journal, City of Hope graduate student Erin Denny is expanding the scope of Kanagaraj's research, and it is expected to eventually be published with Kanagaraj as a co-author, he said.

Denny also mentored Kanagaraj and helped him get up to speed on lab techniques, he said.

At Duke, Kanagaraj is pursuing a biology major with an emphasis in global health.

He was accepted to Harvard University, he said, but was offered a full-tuition scholarship at Duke and ultimately decided Duke would be a better academic fit for him.

Although his older brother graduated medical school last spring at age 24, Kanagaraj said he's not looking to fast-track his education. He plans to graduate from Duke, and then earn both an M.D. and a Ph.D.

"My route is going to take a lot longer, but that's OK," Kanagaraj said. "I like the academic process. I'm not in any rush to get out of school."

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Manoj Kanagaraj, a 2012 graduate of Fullerton's Troy High School, is one of four winners of a $50,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. He performed scientific lab research last year on a biological pathway by which breast cancer tumor cells become resistant to a cancer drug. COURTESY OF DAVIDSON INSTITUTE
Manoj Kanagaraj, 18, a 2012 graduate of Fullerton's Troy High School, is one of four winners nationwide of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development's top scholarship prize. He did breast cancer research under Susan Kane, a professor of tumor cell biology at Duarte's City of Hope. COURTESY OF DAVIDSON INSTITUTE
Manoj Kanagaraj, 18, stands next to a poster summarizing his award-winning scientific research on breast cancer. He is one of four winners nationwide to receive the Davidson Institute for Talent Development's top scholarship prize of $50,000. COURTESY OF DAVIDSON INSTITUTE

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